Saturday, February 9, 2013

Jane the Juicer





What the ----? Jane's a little tied up right now so she asked me to jot down a few things for her. (But really, what the heck is she doing??) That is one ginormous carrot she's got there and why is she wearing a plastic bag boa?
Well, it's like this...Jane or Michael, I can't remember which one, thought it would be a good idea to buy a juicer. They enjoyed going to the Organic Works Bakery and drinking one of their delicious juice concoctions but figured they could do it more cheaply at home.

So Jane did some research on juicers and found a great one at Sears by Hamilton Beach, powered by an 800 watt motor. It's pretty heavy duty but easy on the wallet. Before they knew it they were pushing whatever they could find in the fridge through the juicer.
Then they had to find a good source for fruit and veg - good quality and not too pricey. After trying out a few places the verdict is in: The United Store (asian grocery store) has the cheapest produce and the most variety! Unlike most grocery store the produce section takes up at least 1/3 of the floor space - it's huge! There are fruits and vegetables there that they've never seen before (but are willing to try!)
Doesn't that look yummy? Our (yes, this is Jane talking now - Michael unwrapped me!!) usual concoction contains carrots (naturally :), a green apple or two, celery, cucumber, tomato, grapefruit, pear and grapes. We also add ginger root and turmeric root to help us with inflammation. Both Michael and I have suffered from pinched nerves over the past couple of months...weird huh? He has two discs that are compressed (C5 & C6) while I have advanced osteo-arthritis of the spine in C5 & C6. Freaky.  Both conditions put pressure on the local nerves so it's recommended we live on a diet of ibuprofin and Tylenol. No thank you.  So we've decided to go the natural route instead and add anti-inflammatories to our diet. It seems to be helping and I no longer take any pills.

We're trying to improve our overall diets. We're eating way less meat - I've had a small bit of chicken twice in the past 4 weeks, other than that NO meat. We make lots of veggie stir fries, soups and stews adding dried legumes, lentils, quinoa and brown rice. Keeps me satisfied. (I'm talking about the food here!) I also purchased a bread maker recently and have experimented a little. We're planning to go gluten-free once I can find and test a really good gluten-free bread recipe. Pinterest is a good source. Some people say going gluten-free has changed their lives...for the better. I'd like to test it out and see for myself. I read Wheat Belly over the Christmas break and accept that the wheat we eat now is so genetically modified from what existed 50 years ago it is barely recognizable and has next to no nutritional value.

Lots of changes but made gradually over time. I'll let you know if I feel any different!
 Until then - CHEERS! Our breakfast version is usually orange or pink in colour as it has more fruit (strawberries, pomegranates, melon, oranges etc) in it while the lunch version below is greener - it may contain spinach, watercress, celery, cucumber plus a number of other vegetables.  While I was home recovering from my pinched nerve I would have juice for breakfast and lunch.
Now that I am back to work I take my morning juice with me in a thermos to drink throughout the morning and take a nice vegetable soup for lunch. It's those after school munchies that I still have to tame - especially when it's been a more than usually stressful day. And most of them are!

18 comments:

  1. Good thing you explained the plastic - at first I thought you had gotten some fancy new belt :) That's terrible news about the pinched nerves and osteo-arthritis. Glad to know you've been diagnosed but all the drugs are not fun. My mom has had osteo for years now and it's so painful. One thing that has worked wonders for her is acupuncture. If you can stomach the whole needle bit it might be worth a try.

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  2. Delicious! We've been doing smoothies lately (anything to try to squeeze spinach and kale into my kids!). My MIL bought nutribullet couple of months ago and she loves it! I'd love to buy one too but it's WAY over our budget. I'm glad you could stop taking some of the pills. Living on pills is no fun :(

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  3. oooer Missus..that 's a big carrot!
    Jane x

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  4. I have to say, carrot juice (freshly made) is the best. Haven't had it in ages... You should try papayas. They're delicious!

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  5. Some how I just can't get past the size of that carrot...hmmm maybe I will wake hubby up. I mean your juice looks good lol

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  6. Carrot juice!! Looks great and I'm sure it taste wonderful.
    Hope your pinch nerve clears up soon it seem it has really hampered your quality of life. It sucks to get old but I always say I'm wiser.
    Take care.

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  7. Looks like you're having fun...

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  8. Your concoctions look delish! Glad you are back to blogging. Missed Ya!

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  9. Jane that is the biggest carrot I have ever seen!!! I can comment from my iPad it would seem! I empathize with your radiculopathy! I'm a level below yours with the worst of my symptoms. It sucks, and i agree that Acupuncture is the best relief! I think that your new juicer is awesome!

    As a farmers daughter I do have to disagree about GM wheat. Not in Canada. Wheat has different varieties like all plants. Dad grew Katepwa for as long as I remember. Like gardeners choosing seeds they choose what grows best for the climate. Tall plants that would mature by Sept before frost. And they want tall plants to trap snow in winter! Other areas needed varieties that need more/less rain, shorter/longer growing season.

    Canola totally different story. I think almost impossible to find NON GM canola.
    The canola industry controlled by big companies.

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  10. Acupuncture has been the only treatment that has worked for me too Marguerite! I've had it 4 times over the past couple of weeks and it has been an absolute lifesaver! After my first treatment I slept through the night for the first time in two weeks. I'm so glad I tried it - at the recommendation of my GP!

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  11. I've been feeling my age lately and I don't like it!

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  12. Yup, fun can be had doing the strangest things!

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  13. Lol! That carrot gave me the same idea!

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  14. That's a good idea for your kids, I have grown to love kale!

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  15. Mmmmmmmm I love papayas, that's a good idea!

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  16. Nice to hear from you! That is a big relief about our wheat - it seems that it's the U.S. that has really gotten on the GM bandwagon. It's good to know that Canada has kept its wheat integrity :)

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  17. Feels good to be back, thanks!

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  18. My daughter bought a juicer a couple weeks back. I don't know what additional benefit it will give her since she eats plenty of fruits and veg now. Maybe it's the novelty?...I don't know. Perhaps she can whiz me up some concoction with greens in it since I could get some more of that in my diet.
    Hmmm....plastic bag bondage and a ginormous carrot?? I don't think I want to know!lolol

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